Hyperdominance in Amazonian forest carbon cycling

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 6; no. 1; p. 6857
• Main Authors: Fauset, Sophie, Johnson, Michelle O., Gloor, Manuel, Baker, Timothy R., Monteagudo M., Abel, Brienen, Roel J.W., Feldpausch, Ted R., Lopez-Gonzalez, Gabriela, Malhi, Yadvinder, ter Steege, Hans, Pitman, Nigel C.A., Baraloto, Christopher, Engel, Julien, Pétronelli, Pascal, Andrade, Ana, Camargo, José Luís C., Laurance, Susan G.W., Laurance, William F., Chave, Jerôme, Allie, Elodie, Vargas, Percy Núñez, Terborgh, John W., Ruokolainen, Kalle, Silveira, Marcos, Aymard C., Gerardo A., Arroyo, Luzmila, Bonal, Damien, Ramirez-Angulo, Hirma, Araujo-Murakami, Alejandro, Neill, David, Hérault, Bruno, Dourdain, Aurélie, Torres-Lezama, Armando, Marimon, Beatriz S., Salomão, Rafael P., Comiskey, James A., Réjou-Méchain, Maxime, Toledo, Marisol, Licona, Juan Carlos, Alarcón, Alfredo, Prieto, Adriana, Rudas, Agustín, van der Meer, Peter J., Killeen, Timothy J., Marimon Junior, Ben-Hur, Poorter, Lourens, Boot, Rene G.A., Stergios, Basil, Torre, Emilio Vilanova, Costa, Flávia R.C., Levis, Carolina, Schietti, Juliana, Souza, Priscila, Groot, Nikée, Arets, Eric, Moscoso, Victor Chama, Castro, Wendeson, Coronado, Euridice N. Honorio, Peña-Claros, Marielos, Stahl, Clement, Barroso, Jorcely, Talbot, Joey, Vieira, Ima Célia Guimarães, van der Heijden, Geertje, Thomas, Raquel, Vos, Vincent A., Almeida, Everton C., Davila, Esteban Álvarez, Aragão, Luiz E.O.C., Erwin, Terry L., Morandi, Paulo S., de Oliveira, Edmar Almeida, Valadão, Marco B.X., Zagt, Roderick J., van der Hout, Peter, Loayza, Patricia Alvarez, Pipoly, John J., Wang, Ophelia, Alexiades, Miguel, Cerón, Carlos E., Huamantupa-Chuquimaco, Isau, Di Fiore, Anthony, Peacock, Julie, Camacho, Nadir C. Pallqui, Umetsu, Ricardo K., de Camargo, Plínio Barbosa, Burnham, Robyn J., Herrera, Rafael, Quesada, Carlos A., Stropp, Juliana, Vieira, Simone A., Steininger, Marc, Rodríguez, Carlos Reynel, Restrepo, Zorayda, Muelbert, Adriane Esquivel, Lewis, Simon L., Pickavance, Georgia C., Phillips, Oliver L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 28.04.2015; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Pub. Group
• Subjects: 631/449/1736; 704/158/1145; allometry; biomass; economics spectrum; experimental drought; Humanities and Social Sciences; Life Sciences; mortality; multidisciplinary; productivity; rain-forest; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); species composition; trees; tropical forests
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/ncomms7857

While Amazonian forests are extraordinarily diverse, the abundance of trees is skewed strongly towards relatively few ‘hyperdominant’ species. In addition to their diversity, Amazonian trees are a key component of the global carbon cycle, assimilating and storing more carbon than any other ecosystem on Earth. Here we ask, using a unique data set of 530 forest plots, if the functions of storing and producing woody carbon are concentrated in a small number of tree species, whether the most abundant species also dominate carbon cycling, and whether dominant species are characterized by specific functional traits. We find that dominance of forest function is even more concentrated in a few species than is dominance of tree abundance, with only ≈1% of Amazon tree species responsible for 50% of carbon storage and productivity. Although those species that contribute most to biomass and productivity are often abundant, species maximum size is also influential, while the identity and ranking of dominant species varies by function and by region. The Amazon rainforest is dominated by relatively few tree species, yet the degree to which this hyperdominance influences carbon cycling remains unknown. Here, the authors analyse 530 forest plots and show that ∼1% of species are responsible for 50% of the aboveground carbon storage and productivity.